May 2016 Babies

Kitchen challenge

Bookmark Discussion

skauer wrote:

I can’t seem to get any cooking done anymore without a struggle. My daughter doesn’t want to sit in the high chair (she now uses a booster seat) and wants me to hold her all the time. She goes wild at the smell of food, saying, “eat! eat!” If I don’t pick her up, she cries or acts out (gets into the cupboards and tosses things on the floor). Any good ideas how to keep her busy? I’d like to get a play kitchen for her but I don’t think we have the room in the kitchen for it.

My son has a cupboard that he can get into at will. It's the only one that is "unlocked" so-to-speak, and there's nothing in there that he can hurt, hurt himself on, or that I would be disappointed to lose -- just a variety of small storage containers. He LOVES to figure out bowls and lids, and to put balls and whatnot in the containers. I don't worry about the mess until dinner is over with -- an occupied kiddo is going to buy me more time than the 3 minutes it takes to clean up all the bowls and throw them back in the cupboard.

I've also started letting him sit on the stool next to me to do prep work (depending on the task obviously). I give him measuring cups (likes to stack them), large plastic utensils, whisks, a large bowl, etc., and he "cooks" with me. He does surprisingly well on the stool.

I don't have the problem with him wanting me to hold him, though, that's a challenge. I'd honestly just let him sit and yell until he got over it if he thought that was happening. Not only am I 30 weeks pregnant, but he weighs over 30lb. Sorry, pal!

I finally have a little island and I set a step stool next to it. He climbs on top and I give him little snacks to hold him over. Mine isn't interested in what's in the cabinets anymore but he did for awhile. Plus today, i gave him a slightly wet paper towel and asked him to clean my counter next to the sink, he did that for awhile. Looks like I might get some help cleaning soon. ;)

I really want that play kitchen too but I worry he'll be still more interested in mine.

Same as others have said, we have a step stool that she can stand on while I’m cooking so she feels involved, rags to ‘clean’, and also dried pinto beans - she loves to put these in different containers and ‘stir’ them.

Same struggle here, but often I just put him in his chair early and give little snacks or milk to keep him happy until dinner is done and we all come to the table. Lucky for me, I have others in the house to pawn him off on when he gets in my way a bit too much. I like the bean idea as he is always in the cupboards and by number three locks are useless because someone knows how to open them. Will be following for more ideas! Good post!

We have a baby gate that blocks off the kitchen area where the stove is. But if I want her in the kitchen area with me if she's not in her seat eating while we're cooking. We have a drawer in the kitchen that she knows she can get into that's "safe" and has tupperware and random lids she plays with like a pp said. It literally takes me a min to clean it all up and it keeps her entertained the 20-30 min I cook.

My daughter absolutely has to be in the middle of whatever I’m doing. I wonder if it’s a first child thing? I have her “help” on a barstool with anything she can (stirring, measuring, washing dishes/playing in bubbles, etc). If I’m doing things she can’t help with I try to entertain her with something else in the kitchen - she has a container full of colored rice that she measures and plays with, another container with Rice Krispies, etc. She has a play kitchen but it rarely distracts her when I’m cooking.

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